Well, your first year at college is always an interesting experience, full of laughs, tears, and sometimes terror, but altogether a conglomeration of wonderful. Perhaps my experience was unique in the fact I completed my freshman and sophomore year simultaneously, but none the less, it was my first year at college.
College is basically sleep away camp for adults with extreme amounts of stress and a lot of responsibility. My friends and I often refer to ourselves as third graders who got dropped off at a summer camp with no supervision, and then our parents forgot to come and get us until holiday breaks. Although college made me cry multiple times, it was a wonderful and life altering experience.
I look back and remember the fun things my friends and I did from going at midnight to look at Christmas lights during exams, to late night cookout runs, to times spent watching greys anatomy for terribly long amounts of time. I remember going to multiple President’s dinners where I put my foot in my mouth from time to time (but would I be Faith if I didn’t embarrass myself occasionally?). I remember competing in the school beauty pageant and making top five and being voted Miss Congeniality, which were both a huge shock to me. I remember the massive amounts of homework and sitting in the library with my best friends giggling our heads off at 1am.
I also remember the not so great times my friends helped turn around. I remember the birthday of one of my friends who had passed away and how my friends came together to make me feel better. I remember having medical crisis’s and how my friends were there for me and told me everything that happened when I couldn’t remember it the next day. I remember when my heart got broken and how my friends picked me up, dusted me off, and told me how awesome I am.
From study groups to late night laughs to heart breaks. College has been a roller coaster, but it is a roller coaster I don’t mind riding over and over again. I know this has been a tough year, but I see how much I have grown in my relationship with Christ. I have been forced to trust him and let him take me out of my comfort zone. He has always been there for me and He sent me the right friends at just the right time. I look back on whom I was coming into college and I don’t recognize her (and that is a good thing). I thank God everyday for allowing me to pursue my education at this wonderful school filled with such amazing people. It is a true blessing. It is hard to believe I am about to be a junior and have only two years left here, but I know God will lead me to the next phase in my life, but right now I’m focusing on what’s happening right now and what is right in front of me. I don’t want to miss out on the beauty of today by focusing on tomorrow too much. So cheers to an amazing freshmore year, and cheers to junior year adventures to come.
